Gov. Rick Snyder will propose building a network of high-speed buses along major roads between Detroit and its suburbs to pave the way for a regional transit system, officials in his administration said this afternoon.

Snyder, in a speech that will lay out his transportation agenda Wednesday afternoon at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, will propose creating rapid-transit bus lines along Woodward and Gratiot avenues from downtown to suburbs, between downtown and Ann Arbor with a stop at Detroit Metro Airport, as well as along M-59 in Macomb and Oakland counties.

The high-speed bus lines would be operated by a new governing board made up of representatives of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties independently of existing transit providers, the Detroit Department of Transportation and SMART, the suburban bus system.

Snyder administration officials said the governor views the plan as way to jump-start a regional transit system in metro Detroit, a long-sought goal that has defied dozens of similar attempts since the 1960s. The rapid-transit system would be operated and funded independently – through a fee on vehicle registrations or similar method voters would be asked to approve – and would provide a road map for the city and suburban bus systems to ultimately work better together if not merge outright.

High-speed buses are longer than regular coaches and typically operate on dedicated lanes on roadways, allowing them to move more passengers in less time. In some cases, technology can allow traffic lights at intersections to be adjusted so that the high-speed buses don’t have to stop. Bill Rustem, Snyder’s strategy director, said starting with one piece of transit service would allow metro Detroit leaders to finally work together on a regional system while not having to battle over concerns about the costs of trying to combine city and suburban bus systems.

Detroit has resisted a merger on concerns it would lose control of bus service for city residents and federal funding for transit. Suburban leaders worry about paying for Detroit Department of Transportation retiree pensions and benefits and subsidizing a service that Detroiters use far more than suburbanites.

Synder’s proposal “doesn’t deal with the merger question. It doesn’t deal with the legacy cost question,” Rustem told the Free Press this afternoon. “It’s time to say, ‘OK, we haven’t figured it out after 40 years – we’ve got to have a new approach to the issue.’"

Rustem outlined the proposal during a phone interview that included Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle, who said the plan is to provide reliable service that crosses county borders between key job centers.

The high-speed buses would run along what Steudle called “the spine that connects the region.” Local bus service in both Detroit and the suburbs would feed riders onto the larger routes.

Details about how the system would work – how often buses would run, and how much of a tax would be required – would be left to board members to determine, Rustem said.

Snyder plans to ask the Legislature to approve bills to create a regional transit authority for southeast Michigan and to allow local transit systems across the state to seek voter approval for dedicated local funding.

Metro Detroit is the only big-city region in the United States without a regional tax for transit operations. Other areas fund buses and rail through options such as regional taxes on sales and property.